“Out there on the empty sea,Where only the moon appears,No sail has been seen to passIn four long and dreary years.” Imagine lighting the lamp for ships that never go past.Moominpappa at Sea by Tove Jansson What is the point to light the lamp at the lighthouse faithfully every evening when no ship needed it? …
Time continues to play its organ diligently,Its little song sings to you every day,Mixed with sounds that are not cheerful,That no one wants to hear. The sounds continue. And as the years go byIt becomes a full singing society.It makes you go through the roof.You’d like to be somewhere else. Well, all right. You do …
Who were the guests staying in Hotel du Lac?“It seems to be permanently reserved for women. And for a certain kind of woman. Cast-off or abandoned, paid to stay away, or to do harmless womanly things, like spending money on clothes.” These were the hotel guests that the novelist Edith Hope spent time with in …
“At what point did one’s youth become part of history?” Peter Hunter, the Cambridge alumnus revisit his university and felt he belonged to the past. But have he and Eleanor grew up since they left Cambridge? One becomes a best seller author, another one becomes a TV celebrity, both are Cambridge graduates, beyond dazzling and …
Hollandsche Schouwburg in Amsterdam, October 1942. The Jews were locked up in Hollandsche Schouwburg until they were deported to concentration and extermination camps. Their children were sent to the nursery opposite the Hollandsche Schouwburg. In the nursery, a secret rescue operation was happening, this book describes the underground rescue network. Sadly, out of 10 children, …
What is Christmas to you? As for me, Christmas is when God left His paradise home. This picture is particularly vivid this Christmas after reading the book “Die Weisheit der Lilien” by Weifan Wang. A book that I encountered in a public bookcase not long ago. “When Adam left paradise, we human began to feelthe …
Today I accompanied 3 funerals on the organ. It was a very special day to accompany funeral on 19.12. Around 90% of the funerals that I played, bereaved families wish to have Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Von guten Mächten” (By Gracious Power) at the funeral. This poem is originally written for his fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer-Weller, in …
Besides my “around the world” and “non-fiction” reading plans, I also joined another two book challenges with my Instagram book friends. The challenges are “Kindle Crush Challenge” and “Neglected Faithfuls”. The “neglected faithfuls” challenge is to read the forgotten or neglected favourite author. I would like to read C.S. Lewis’ Narnia, his non-fiction books, also …
Do you read non-fiction? What is your reason of reading non-fiction? As for me, I have many questions, luckily there are people out there also having the same questions like me, some of them even wrote books to provide me some answers. These books are often non-fiction. I read non-fiction to find answers to my …
“Every Foreign Country a Homeland, Every Homeland a Foreign Country”, is my life motto. And this article by Gordon W. Lothrop shaped my perspective when I was younger. Every time I travel to new place, learning new things, reading new books, I am asking the question:“How do we treasure difference and yet find common values?” …